Church Recruits Patriot Pastors To Support Candidate

[liberal N proud]

Cleveland TV Station investigation:

Preachers Getting Involved In Politics May Be Against Ohio Law

NewsNet5.com
CLEVELAND - Mixing politics with preaching -- NewsChannel5 investigator Ron Regan is On Your Side revealing how Ohio pastors are getting off the sidelines and into politics, and why they may be breaking the law. Regan: You may not have been invited, but the 500 conservative Ohio voters at a luncheon could help elect the next leader of the state you live in.

The Rev. Russell Johnson, Ohio Restoration Project: "There has been a Jihad, a secular Jihad against expression of faith, while some in the church are sitting on the sidelines."

Regan: And getting off the sidelines and into politics is what Pastor Russell Johnson is preaching.

Johnson: "For such a time as this, I was placed upon this earth. "

Regan: It's called the "Ohio Restoration Project" -- based at a church in central Ohio.

Johnson: "We don't want to impose our ideas, we want to propose ideas."

Regan: "Johnson's ideas include banning gay marriage, opposing abortion and tax supported private schools. But how he's doing it, may be breaking the law."

Thirty-one Ohio pastors are asking the IRS to investigate Johnson's group on grounds that luncheons are mixing politics with preaching.

The Rev. Eric Williams, North Congregational Church of Christ: "They crossed the line and they're not acting as a church in my mind. They're acting more like a political organization to elect a single candidate."

Regan: And that candidate appears to be Republican Ken Blackwell.

Sure enough, we found Blackwell at a Restoration Project meeting last month near Canton, where he even received an award.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/7120773/detail.html

[FormerRepublican]

1. Now we know why they want to kill separation of church and state...

[rpannier]

2. I guess I don't have a problem if all they want to do is get people to run

but when they cross into partisan politics than there is a problem.

[FreedomAngel82]

4. Right and bringing it into the church

Earlier this month my church had a guest speaker during the Bible study times and everyone from college on up stayed in to hear him speak and for a few brief seconds he got off on why he was there into a rant against gay people and abortion. :eyes: Of course I gave him the meanest stink eye I could. Heh.

[Dogmudgeon]

8. Stink eye?

You should have gone outside and gotten him a stone.

Well, there will be a "next time" for everthing like this if you're involved in a church group. So keep one handy.

--p!

[FreedomAngel82]

3. I'm glad they're now doing this investigation

A little bit late but still good to hear. And I'm glad also to hear about the rev from the Church of Christ since that's what I'm apart of.

[xchrom]

5. churches should be taxed.

[FreedomAngel82]

7. Not all should just the one's that cross the line

There are still churches who don't have preachers preaching from the pulpit.

[Devlzown]

6. They've been doing that shit since the 80's at least.

I remember preachers campaigning for Reagan back then.

[Dogmudgeon]

9. Waaaay before that

There was a John Birch Society book circulating in the 1960s called None Dare Call It Treason -- mainly through churches. The town next to mine was home to one of JBS' big shots, and my area was saturated with that shit.

--p!

[zbdent]

10. Now it's gone from a bunch of newspaper-reading america-hating

liberal tinfoil-hatters to "reality", since it's been on TV . . .

:silly:

[Coyote_Bandit]

11. I believe the tax code

prohibits not for profit 501(c)(3) organizations - which includes churches and other religious groups - from endorsing candidates. There needs to be an administrative and judicial finding that "endorsing candidates" can result from either an implicit or explicit endorsement. It shouldn't be a far fetched finding. After all a threat against the pResident need not be explicit.